The concentration of group homes and similar facilities is hardly a new one. The 1/4 mile rule grew out of a 1974 battle over a request by the Circle F to locate a facility at 24th and Pillsbury in the Whittier neighborhood. This episode in some ways helped lead to the founding of the Whittier Alliance several years later. Short story: Circle F is denied permit, Aldermanic self proclaimed moratorium holds, but is baseless. Solution: ordinance. 1/4 mile seems reasonable. Wards with existing facilities support ordinance to be able to deny new facilities, those with a few see themselves as inoculated against new, and those wards without are comfortable that the architecture of their neighborhoods are not conducive to such homes. Result, near if not unanimous support for provision. Was it exclusionary? Perhaps, perhaps not. Was it democratic, certainly, at least formally. But it primarily avoided the hard issues.
Minneapolis' central neighborhoods provide a unique combination of architecturally sufficient facilities and the most effective mass transit system the state has to offer. Proximity makes the whole thing work particularly well. Proximity to county and city offices downtown, proximity to jobs downtown and in the periphery of downtown. Proximity to non profit service agencies which fill the storefronts of our main streets. Proximity is the key for the services and a natural reason promoting concentration. On the other hand, the residents ask what type of normal neighborhood are these people being integrated into? One in which it is normal to see people beating on their heads walking down the street??? Ah, political dilemma's! Hard to win both sides of this fight. The real need is to see that our central city functions in part as an "Ellis Island" for immigrants of all sorts including those with domestically borne "alienations." Geographically, the city will inevitably play this role. We need to think more about what it means to be this transit way, and how we should build and relate to the infrastructure that implies. Whether Somali or Mentally challenged, the city hosts many populations. Many of these will flow through the city enroute to other places within our metro area or elsewhere. As transients their voices may not be heard at all the neighborhood NRP meetings, nor at city political conventions. There will forever be clashes like the one over Lydia House. Neighborhood identity at odds with regional reality. However, it makes sense to locate facilities in a service rich neighborhood. Living in a service rich neighborhood probably requires sharing a service rich neighborhood. Earl Netwal 5344 36th Ave S. Mpls., MN 55417 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
